Method of deodorizing oils



Patented June 4, 1940 UNITED STATES EN OFFICE No Drawing. Application December 24, 1938, Serial No. 247,655

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to the deodorization of oils and fats and particularly to a method of treating the same to remove disagreeable odors therefrom and thus to render them suitable for uses in which a strong or disagreeable odor is objectionable.

Many animal and vegetable oils and fats have objectionable odors which prohibit or hinder their use for medical and other purposes. For example, cod-liver oil, neats-foot oil, raisin-seed oil, and lanolin or wool fat have odors which render them objectionable for use either internally or externally. The oils and fats mentioned, as well as many others, are highly valued for purposes in which their odor is objectionable, and their value can be greatly increased by the elimination of such odors.

It is the object of the present invention to effect deodorization of such oils and fats inexpensively and efficiently.

I have discovered that the oils above named, as well as many others, may be rendered practically odorless, or at least, free from objectionable odors, by exposing them to the action of Roentgen or X-rays. In practicing the invention the amount of X-rays required to produce the desired deodorization varies with different types of oils or fats and with different batches of the same type of oil or fat, depending upon the specific characteristics of the batch. By way of example, I will describe the method of the invention as applied to neats-foot oil. Without knowledge of the particular characteristics of the batch of oil being treated, the oil is subjected to a beam of X-rays and tested from time to time for odor. A simple method of testing is to remove a small quantity of the oil from the batch, as by dipping the finger in the batch and smelling it. After a period of, time, which will vary 40 with the intensity of the beam of X-rays, the oil under treatment, and the temperature of the oil, as Well as other specific factors, the normally objectionable odor will be found to have disappeared. At this moment the exposure to the X-rays is terminated, as I have found that overexposure may result in recurrence of a disagreeable odor.

If the quantity of oil being treated is large it is desirable that it be constantly stirred so that all portions of. the batch will be subjected more or less equally to the action of the X-rays. A suitable apparatus for practicing this method consists simply of a large pan or receptacle for the oil to be treated and a motor-driven mixer immersed in the oil to be put in motion while a beam of X-rays measuring, say, about 18x18 centimeters is directed onto the moving surface of the batch. It has been determined by experiment that a batch of three gallons of neats-foot oil of 15, that is, neats-foot oil that has been filtered at 15 (3., when placed in an open pan and constantly stirred, will be deodorized when subjected to a dose of from 17,000 to 23,000 roentgens of X-rays. Where there is a supply of oil or fat having uniform characteristics, it is of. course possible that a standard or uniform method of treatment may he arrived at so that frequent testing of the oil during treatment is unnecessary and oil in large quantities may be satisfactorily deodorized by subjecting it to the standards of treatment determined for its kind.

It is also possible and desirable in some instances that the oil or fat be treated by subjecting it to the action of. X-rays While it is in a thin film rather than while it is contained as a mass in a pan or the like. To effect such treatment, the oil may be permitted to flow over a flat, slightly inclined plate so as to form a continuous sheet of oil, and the X-rays may be directed toward the plate so that a suitably regulated flow of oil and a measured strength of X-rays will effect the deodorization without the necessity of stirring the batch in the manner set forth above.

Other modes of treating oils or fats may be employed in the practice of the present invention and without departing from the scope of. the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

The present application is a continuation-inpart of my co-pending application entitled: Method of deodorizing neats-foot oil, Serial No. 21,383, filed May 14, 1935.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The method of deodorizing neats-foot oil which comprises subjecting it to the action of X-rays.

2. The method of deodorizing neats-foot oil which comprises subjecting it to the action of X-rays until a dose of. from 17,000 to 23,000 roentgens has been applied.

3. The method of deodorizing neats-foot oil with X-rays which comprises subjecting a batch of 15 oil to a dose of about 17,000 to 23,000 roentgens.

4. The method of deodorizing neats-foot oil mal and vegetable oils, fats, and waxes which 5 comprises subjecting them to the action of X- rays.

6. The method of. deodorizing non-drying animal and vegetable oils, fats, and waxes which comprises subjecting them to the action of X- rays until a dose of 17,000 to 23,000 roentgens has been applied.

'7. The method of deodorizing non-drying oils and fats including cod-liver oil, neats-foot oil,

10 raisin-seed oil, and lanolin, which comprises subjecting the oil or fat to be deodorized to the action of X-rays.

8. The method of deodorizing non-drying oils and fats including cod-liver oil, neats-foot oil,

HENRY JOHNSON ULLMANN. 

